Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Will cars run Windows, requiring you to click the Start button to turn off the engine when done driving? No, not yet. Microsoft has just teamed up with Ford Motor to add a system that lets the driver control mobile phones and music players by voice commands or buttons on the steering wheel.

The system is called Sync and utilizes Bluetooth to connect to mobile phones. It will also provide a USB port as a charging option and also for wired connections.

Sync is expected to be available starting with the Ford Focus compact car in the new year. According to the deal, the technology will be exclusive to Ford cars till the end of 2008.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Do you know that the car you drive has not been crash tested and might result in severe injuries or even death in the event of an accident? Do you know that as opposed to developed countries, the Indian government allows car manufacturers to sell cars in the Indian market without a full fledged crash test! Yes its true, our auto policy makers dont give a damn about our safety.

Crash testing is a mandatory requirement in all developed markets where each new car/variant is put through multiple tests including full frontal/half frontal, side and rear collission etc at various speeds to gauge the car's safety in terms of protecting the driver and passengers in the event of a real life crash. Each car is rated and the ratings made available to the public to help them in deciding which car they wish to buy. Infact the safety ratings are taken very seriously by consumers.

The Indian government is however still reluctant to make full-fledged crash testing mandatory for all cars which is a blessing in disguise for many manufacturers. Old and India-specific car models such as the Ambassador, Maruti’s bread-and-butter model the 800, Omni and even the upmarket Esteem may not qualify as fully crash-tested vehicles if and when it becomes mandatory. These cars were introduced decades ago when crash testing was not mandatory even in some developed countries. But later introductions - such as the Swift,Getz, Aveo U-VA, New Zen Estilo etc have all been crash tested in foreign markets, infact the Swift is a remarkably safe car having achieved 4 out of 5 stars in the NCAP tests. The question of crash-testing in India becomes even more important in the context of the new trend towards even cheaper & lighter cars like the Tata's proposed Rs 1 lakh car. Moreover the construction of multi lane highways and fast moving traffic mandates full crash testing.

As of now, cars have to comply with only a partial crash test in India. Also known as the steering impact test, it is conducted at low speeds of 40-45 kmph by the Automotive Research Association of India (Arai), Pune. But even the steering impact test excludes cars weighing over 1,500 kg - excluding many luxury sedans in the process. The government’s reluctance to enforce crash testing appears to be due to a lack of adequate testing infrastructure and lobbying by some carmakers. The government is aiming that full-fledged infrastructure would be ready by 2009, when the two new testing facilities at Manesar and Chennai come up.

Today, many car makers such as Mahindra & Tata get their vehicles crash-tested abroad so that these can then be exported to western markets but cars purely for domestic sales are not tested overseas as their is no governmental regulation. What the government could do till it gets its crash testing infrastructure setup, is to enforce crash testing of cars at overseas testing locations such as NCAP in Europe etc. This will only add a small incremental cost to manufacturers while making cars being sold in India safer.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Every year Peugeot holds a design challenge inviting the best and brightest automotive artists to conjure a vehicle for the future. This year's theme is "P.L.E.A.S.E. Innovate", which corresponds to six features the winning entry should exhibit: Pleasurable (to drive), Lively, Efficient, Accessible, Simple, and Ecological. This year there are 30 projects that are in the running and we've assembled them all for your perusal in high-res galleries after the jump. If you like wild concepts that have no respect for reality, then you'll be in heaven below the fold. You can also vote for your favorite concept here. Since the whole challenge is being sponsored by the XBOX 360, the winning project will not only be on display in full scale at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, it will also be playable in a yet-to-be-named video game for the XBOX 360.